Iridescence
by Annechilde
Summary: This story opens with a new character: Casey Daniels. He moves to Alaska with his Aunt and Uncle, and unbeknown to him, he's stepped into a world unlike any other. First installment 2 parts. 1: Wasilla 2: So... your name is?


Disclaimer: I am not the creator of the Twilight world, all characters from the books are property of Stephanie Meyers. Disclaimer: I am not the creator of the Twilight world, all characters from the books are property of Stephanie Meyers.

Iridescence

Chapter One

Wasilla

I awoke with recollections of a foggy dream, a girl I recognized, but did not know was the star. Her face stuck in my head, pale white skin and brown eyes. I was in school, and had glanced up to catch her gaze as she looked over her shoulder in my direction.

My alarm clock was silent, I'd been laying on my back staring at the wall papered ceiling of my bedroom when I realized it must be earlier than I thought. The red numbers read 3:42 AM. I pulled my blankets to my chin and rolled to my side with a huff, and squeezed my eyes shut willing the dream to continue. Much to my dismay, there was only black, and even then when my alarm clock finally did sound I did not want to wake up. I feared if I opened my eyes her perfect image would dissipate.

I kicked my blankets off, they static-clung to the hair on my legs. The soft clicking of static shocking me seemed to bounce off the walls of my large barren bedroom. I stumbled to the light switch, flipped it on, and stared blindly across my room. I could make out the outlines of boxes, all cluttered along the walls of my room, waiting to be unpacked. Their contents begging to be organized on shelves yet to be put up, clothes longing to be placed in a dresser I did not own. I searched through half opened eyes for the box that held my clothing. They finally fell upon a large battered box, 'Casey's clothes' scrawled across the top in thick black perminate marker.

I'd like to say that myself and my family had recently moved to Wasilla, and I'd like to say that I would soon be bouncing down the flight of stairs outside my room to the smell of pancakes freshly cooked by my mother. That is not the case. The truth is, I'd been tossed around between my parents most of my life, finally making the choice to come stay with my Aunt and Uncle on my 17th birthday. Aunt Lucy is a stay at home mom, and Uncle Durk works for the oil company. They own an outrageously large log cabin snuggled in the always growing pine trees atop a mountain. The type of house you'd drive by, and stare up at from the road and wish you'd know what it would be like to live there. The front portion of the house is extremely open, more glass than wood. I suppose if you can afford to own a house like this, you can afford to replace a window or two if a branch might stray from one of the many pine trees during a snow storm. The living room is in the front of the house, and occupies two levels, the ceiling in that room is two stories high, the wall facing the forest is the more glass than wood area of the house. When I first arrived two nights ago, I'd stood facing the large panel like windows long enough to watch the sun try to rise, and finally fall defeated. It's January, which means daylight is some what of a distant memory here in Alaska.

First day of school at Wasilla High school, Monday morning to add to it. Clothes still packed, no doubt wrinkled inside the cardboard box. I stripped off the layers of tape that held the box a little too firmly closed, and peered inside. I grabbed at the first portion of fabric that touched my fingertips and pulled it out with a sharp tug. A blue and white striped button up cotton shirt with silvery buttons, and long sleeves. I tossed it to the floor, and rummaged for a pair of pants. The first pair I pulled out was a pair of blue jeans with a whole where the right butt pocket should have been. I made a mental note to throw them out when I had the time. I reached in again and freed another pair of jeans from the poorly packed tangle of clothes. Acid washed, newly bought, never worn, a strategically placed razor cut hole right across the knee. Underwear. Socks. I glanced back to my clock, it's red numbers now reading 6:30. My heart jumped at the thought of walking through the doors to a new high school, to a new environment, to unfamiliar faces and teachers… to no friends. I wasn't looking forward to wondering hallways I didn't know, trying to find classes I'd never been to, to trying to catch up to the kids who'd already crammed five months worth of school work into their brains.

I shoved my feet into the pants, hiked them to my hips, weaved the button into it's rightful hole, and yanked the zipper upward. My mind felt as though it were on auto pilot as I pulled the shirt on without unbuttoning the front, and fixed the collar. Standing in front of a mirror that was screwed into my closet door, I ruffled my white-blonde hair with my hands, and rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes. I brushed my worries out of my head, stood back, and deemed myself presentable enough for a bunch of people who I'd never met. Being that I'm a lanky 6 foot 4 inches tall without shoes, with hair that could easily pass for white, I knew I'd stand out regardless.

"Casey!" My aunt Lucy's voice rang clearly throughout the house, and I jumped at the sudden break in the silence. Uncle Durk would have already left, at least an hour and a half ago, if not longer. "Come get breakfast, hun." Aunt Lucy had a sweet, young voice. I couldn't imagine her angry, I probably wouldn't be able to take her seriously. She was only in her early thirties, with two young children. Aaden the youngest at three, and Aaron who was creeping into his tenth year. The four of them made a decently happy family. Cute if anything else. Three our of the four of them had curly red hair, green eyes, and pale skin dotted with freckles. Uncle Durk was the odd one out with brown hair, bronze skin, and hazel eyes. He'd been born and raised in California, and his skin showed the days spent at the beach. His broad forehead was shiny, and his skin was tough with years of unprotected sun exposure. He'd decided to move to Alaska because that's where Aunt Lucy's family was, and her father offered him a job with the oil company. Hard work, but lots of money, an offer no one in their right mind would turn down.

"

Casey!" A smaller voice this time, no doubt Aaron, ripped me from my thoughts. I heard his light footsteps coming up the stairs. He knocked at my door lightly, then opened it. He stood looking at me through fiery curls that hung just above his eyes, and smiled. "Mom told me to come get you." He rocked on his heels, waiting.

"I'm coming." My voice was still husky with sleep. I grabbed my winter coat from its spot on the post of my bed frame, turned the light off, and followed my cousin down the stairs. The coat in my grasp was not new, it had years of practice keeping me warm in cold temperatures. The state I lived in before was notorious for cold weather, rain if anything else. I recently had resided in Forks, Washington. It's where I went to school, where I spent most of my time. That was were my mother lived, my father on the other hand lived in Port Angeles. I spent weekends and holidays with him, which I didn't mind. My father's family always out did holidays, and the women in his family defiantly knew their way around a kitchen. Moving from Washington to Alaska wasn't too much of a change, what was, was moving from being somewhere below the poverty line to suddenly having all the money I could possibly need. As well as a 2009 teal blue Pontiac Solstice with 260 horses under the hood, apparently capable of going from zero to sixty in five point five seconds. A custom ordered present from Uncle Durk, promising my first impression at Wasilla High would be that of a rich snobby kid from somewhere in the mountains.

When I got to the dining room, the large rectangular room at the back of the house opposite to the over bearing living room, Aunt Lucy was sitting at the long cherry wood table facing my direction. She held a steaming cup in one hand, and a book in the other. In front of the seat diagonal to her sat a large cereal bowl, a box of my favourite cereal, and a gallon of 2% milk. Aaron raced to the seat beside mine, plopped himself down, and smiled over at me. I took my seat, poured the cereal, covered it with milk, and lifted the spoon to my mouth.

"You excited for your first day of school?" She placed the book beside her, and sipped at the steaming liquid.

_No. _"Yeah, I guess." I mumbled around a mouth full of cinnamon sugar coated squares. I smiled weakly, and swallowed. "Have you seen my shoes?" I asked, pushing bits of cereal around the bowl. The squares danced and floated in the lake of white, cinnamon swirling on the surface. I looked up to meet her gaze, trying to change the conversation. She sighed, took the bait, and pulled on the fishing line of my attempt, then the line went limp.

"It wont be too bad, Casey. Wasilla High is a small school, can't be much different than Forks." She sat the cup down, and glanced to the kitchen. "Your shoes are at the door," She gestured passed the kitchen to the large stained glass front door. "with everyone else's." She smiled sweetly. At this point I wondered if her sweetness was just a façade created to make me feel more welcome. The atmosphere in the room shifted as the large grandmother clock in the living room chimed seven o'clock. I set my spoon in my bowl, neglecting the last bit of milk in the bottom, and rose from my chair.

"Drink that for me, will ya?" I slid the bowl towards Aaron, who furrowed his brows at my request. I grabbed my winter coat from the back of my chair and slid it on. I grabbed my flat and empty backpack from beside the door, and pulled on my black converse sneakers. The keys to my car hung gleaming on a rack along with a few other pairs of keys. I grabbed those, and turned towards my aunt and cousin, who where staring expectantly in my direction. I smiled and waved, and they waved back with the same happy expressions dancing across their faces.

My car was parked in the driveway, shiny and new and yet to be driven. The garage it sat in front of already contained its maximum capacity of cars, and Uncle Durk had promised to expand on it in the near future to contain my car as well. I didn't really see the point, we were so far up in the mountain, and buried so deeply in a pine-wooded forest I hardly thought it necessary. That, and the how ever many acres of land my aunt and uncle owned was contained in a 10 foot tall metal fence, with a gate at the end of the almost mile long driveway that required a remote to open.

I unlocked the driver's side door, and slid into the car's black leather seat. I threw my backpack into the passenger seat, and sighed. My heart was pumping a thousand miles an hour, and I knew today would be interesting. With a car like this, and a name like Casey, it was bound to be no less. I cursed my parents for giving me a name like Casey, and often introduced myself as Matthew, my middle name. Today I would not be able to avoid being introduced as Casey. I would have 7 classes worth of standing in front of a room full of teenagers that really could care less, and a teacher with a slip with the name "Casey M. Daniels." printed somewhere on the paper.

The key slid into the ignition smoothly, I turned it slowly and the engine revved to life. The lights turned on automatically in the darkness of the Alaskan morning. I shifted the car into drive, and was on my way to the first day of what promised to be 4 months of something that resembled hell. As I made it to the gate, the image of the beautiful pale skinned girl from my dream flooded my head.

Chapter Two

So… your name is?

I pulled into the high school parking lot, and ignored the stares from the other students as I found a parking spot. I felt my face grow hot as I climbed from my car, and the students that stood gawking continued to stare. A few girls standing beside a tiny silver Honda giggled, and flipped their hair. They whispered things to each other as I passed, keeping my eyes on the worn rubber on the front of my shoes. How embarrassing. All these eyes burning on the back of my head, thanks Uncle Durk. I could only imagine that every single person I passed held some preconceived idea about me already.

When I reached the front door, I felt a hand touch my shoulder lightly. I stopped, and turned only my head in the direction of a rather balky teenager.

"Hey man, what kind of car you ridin'?" He flipped his thumb over his shoulder.

"Uhm… it's a Pontiac Solstice." I smiled at the boy, who's brown hair stuck out haphazardly beneath a maroon beanie. He was dressed in what I would consider grunge. Flannel shirt, ripped jeans. He had a dusting of hair over his face.

"Yeah? That's a sweet car, man." He scratched his head through his cap, and held out his hand. "I'm Justin, you new here dude? I haven't seen you around…" I grasped his hand and shook it firmly.

"Casey… Buttah, I go by Matthew." I winced at the admission of my real first name, but he showed no expression beyond interest.

"Yo, Matthew. Nice to meet you man, hey… You need any help getting around or anything? It's a pretty small school, fairly easy to navigate." Justin drew out the last word ending it in with "Uhh", completing the sentence with a hand motion I didn't understand.

"Uhm, sure." I shrugged my shoulders, and grabbed at the door handle. I heaved the large door open, it was heavier than it looked. Justin grabbed the door by the wood, and pushed it the rest of the way.

"You have your schedule?" Justin watched my face as we walked down a long hallway lined with doors.

"Yeah." I slung my backpack around the front of me, and pulled a piece of paper that was folded in fourths into view. I handed it to him, and he unfolded it quickly.

"Oh, sweet. We have History together. Fifth period Mrs. Richardson." He scanned the page, and pointed to something. "Okay, well…" He stopped, and turned towards a classroom. "This is your first class. English. Mr. Thomas, he's a cool dude I had him last year. Just uh, sit in the front, he doesn't pay attention to those kids too much." He smiled as he scanned the page again. "Your homeroom is room 205, it's down the hall, turn left and it's like… the 5th door on your right." He handed me my paper back, and punched my shoulder. "Good luck today, alright? I gotta go meet my girlfriend." And with another smile, he turned and walked in the opposite direction towards the entrance.

"Wait!" I waved the paper in the air. "Can you show me where the office is?!" He stopped, turned, and pointed his index finger to the glass door directly beside the entrance. He grinned, waved, and opened the door wide enough to slide through. I ran my fingers through my hair nervously, and stalked to the opaque glass door. My shoes squeaked loudly on the grey linoleum floor. I pulled the door open, and stepped into a large white room, with a row of black cushioned chairs along right wall, and a U shaped desk in the center. An older woman with circular plastic rimmed glasses looked up from her work.

"You must be Casey?" She pulled her glasses off her nose, and let them fall attached by a small white cord around her neck. I nodded, and stepped up to the desk. "Welcome to Wasilla High." She handed me a light green slip, my name written across the top in elegant script, seven lines occupied the space below. "Have each of your teachers sign this, and bring it back at the end of the day." She tapped her pen on the desk, placed her glasses back on her nose, and turned her attention back to her paper work.

"Thanks." I shoved this paper with my schedule in my back pocket.

"Mmhm." Was her mumbled response as I turned to leave.

I pushed the door open, and a bell ran in unison. The front doors opened, and kids began to filter into the building. I scanned the crowd for Justin, who appeared after a small group of kids passed by me. Cold air drifted through the doors with the kids, and I shivered. It was going to be a long day. Justin weaved his way to me, a tiny girl in comparison to him was attached to him by the nook of his elbow. She had straight blonde hair, and amber eyes. She had a very nervous look about her. She dressed much the same as Justin, a patchwork skirt flooded around her legs.

"Emily, this is my bro Matt." He gestured towards me.

"Hello." She squeaked, smiling slightly.

"He just moved here from…" He searched for a location I hadn't told him.

"Forks Washington."

"Ah. There's a girl in our history who's from Forks. That place must breed some beautiful people, or something." He shrugged as his girlfriend gave him an annoyed look. "She owns the only other nice car in the parking lot. Her name's Renesme. You know her?" I raised an eyebrow at the name.

"I don't think so, maybe I'll know her to see her."

"I don't know man, she's pretty strange. She sits by herself in lunch, but she's beautiful, I've talked to her and she's nice." He glanced to Emily who was staring at the floor. "Uh, anyway, gotta get to homeroom, dude. I'll catch you in lunch?"

"Right."

I found my homeroom, and handed the teacher the light green paper. She was a very small woman, with a puff of blonde hair piled on the top of her head. It was like she was compensating for her height with her hair, even though she wore at least 3 inch high heals. She had to have only been in her twenties, her face lacked the wrinkles of age. She smiled, and handed the paper back to me.

"I don't need to sign that." She patted my shoulder, and picked up a clip board with a seating chart on it. "Mmm… Well Casey, looks like you're in the back. Third seat from the windows." She pointed to my seat daintily and sat behind her desk.

I weaved my way through the desks to my assigned seat, sat down, and stared out the window. It was a very strange experience to be in school during what felt like night. Street lights were on, the sky a deep blue-black speckled with stars. I pulled my backpack off, and let it fall to the floor. My winter coat clung to me with static Velcro, the soft warm insides alight with tiny jolts of energy. I draped it across my desk, and continued to star out the windows.

My head swarmed with what this new and strange place promised to bring. I felt as though I was surrounded by a bright light, something cool and warm at the same time washed over me. Goose bumps raised on my skin, the world around me a fuzzy glow. A beautiful scent filled my nose, and a strange calm fell on me like a fog over mountains. Although this place was strange, somewhere in my mind it felt right. I was meant to be here, halfway through the school year. School. Suddenly I felt as though school would not be my greatest concern. My nerves were wracking my body, I knew this. Every thought, every bit of inner dialogue felt as though it were screaming at me. I could feel that my muscles were tense under my skin, my jaw clenched in some sort of anticipation.

"Hello." A small voice greeted me from somewhere beyond the veil of thought I'd created. I jumped slightly, the curtains falling.

The voice came from a girl who had taken her seat in front of me. She had springing brown hair, held back loosely by a small plastic headband, the dark curls framed an impossibly pale face. She flashed a smile, her teeth gleamed brightly. She was dressed like she had money, name brand clothing from head to toe. A diamond ring was snug on her thumb, a delicate looking silver bracelet hung from her wrist. However stunning she was, she seemed nervous. Timid, like a fawn in the woods following it's mother, and jumping at every skittering noise. She was looking at me over her shoulder, waiting for a response. When I stuttered for an answer, I felt rude.

"Hi." I swallowed loudly, unable to detach my eyes from her face.

"I'm Renesme, I think I've seen you somewhere before…" She turned further, to face me more directly, studying my features curiously.

"Uh," I pushed my large puffy coat off my desk, and pulled my eyes to my hands. "You went to Fork's High school?" It was almost a whisper, but I'd made a realization that wrapped around my vocal chords, and choked my words.

This girl was the girl in my dream, I was sure of it. The same feeling was here, the same strange indescribable feeling of… sureness?

She blinked, and glanced to the class that was now full of students. She twisted a strand of hair nervously between her fingers, and looked back to me almost cautiously.

"Oh. Hmm…" I could tell she was hesitant. "Yeah." She answered after a moment of obvious deliberation. "So… your name is?" She smiled again, changing the subject.

"Matthew." I held out my hand, but she only shook her head. I pulled it back, and folded my hands under my desk, embarrassed. A giggle chimed in her throat.

"You don't look like a Matt." I sighed, and held out my hand again.

"Casey."

She took it this time, and shook It lightly.

"Casey." My name in her voice sounded musical. "Nice to meet you." She flipped her hair, and turned to face the front of the class.

That was awkward. I once again turned my face towards the window, and relished when the day would finally be over. The whole 45 minutes I'd lived through so far felt like a life time. I felt trapped in my seat, in time that just refused to push forward.

"Please stand for the pledge to the flag." A raspy voice sounded over the intercom, and the teacher stood almost simultaneously. I looked around cautiously before standing and placing my hand over my heart. I didn't know how these kids worked. I didn't want to be the only one standing. There was, however, only a few who repeated the pledge along with the detached voice.


End file.
